Kensington - an overview

Frankandann

I sold my house in December 2007 and with it went a 10.9 % mortgage with Kensington. I would like to take this opportunity to show what happened in the ensuing 2-3 months as a warning to anyone desparate enough to deal with this company.
December 20th - Completion date
December 18th - My solicitor asked Kensington for a redemption figure. Kensington said it would take FIVE clear working days ( my solicitor says 24hrs is the industry norm). This took us up to Xmas Eve but we were assured it would be done.
December 24th - Both my solicitor and myself spent much of the day trying to contact Kensington. No joy,no redemption figure
December 31st (Late afternoon) - Redemption figure faxed to my solicitor who had already closed for New Year.
January 4th - My solicitor queried the redemption figure with Kensington as it included a full months mortgage for January PLUS a late payment charge as the mortgage was not redeemed before the end of December !. As I was desperate for funds I settled at their figure and instructed my solicitor to challenge the extras.
January 9th - My solicitor received a letter from Kensington to say they were quite within their rights to charge. Take it up with the FO if your client is not happy.
January 10th - I personally wrote to Kensington setting out timescales etc. which made settlement in Dec impossible - and their fault
Jan 25th - I received an apologetic letter admitting they were wrong and refunding in full also adding a £50 goodwill payment. Cheque to follow.
Feb 13th - Cheque for £50 recieved re-directed from my OLD address. Rang to query where the big cheque would be sent . After 10 mins of muzak came back to me and said it would be paid direct into my bank by 18th Feb.
Feb 19th - Nothing received so I rang. I was told there was nothing on my records updated from the previous call and that the cheque would be sent to my OLD address ( empty and being re-furbished) as they have no other address for me ! - so how come I recieved a letter on the 25th Jan informing me of the refund ? To cut a long story short after angry words had been exchanged the money was finally paid into my bank on 26th Feb a month after it was promised and 2 months after it should have been paid anyway.
I wish I had never heard of Kensington and would advise anyone to avoid them unless you are really really desperate

Kez100

To be fair only the really really desparate go there in the first place! At 10.9% no one else would.

owitemisermusa

Thanks OP.
Your account is appreciated and will help others' decision making wrt customer service.

I take it you're mortgage free? Congrats if that's the case!

UK007BullDog

Mortgage free and house free it seems. Renting now?

Frankandann

Renting a new-build house at £200 a month rent less than I was paying Kensington mortgage. And in answer to Kez100 the rate was nowhere near 10.9 % when I took the mortgage out 4 years ago. It is a clear Kensington policy to suck you in with a low(ish) fixed term rate then steadily build the rate once that has finished.

G-G_4

Kensingtons admin work is done by a company called HML. I used to work for them, working with Kensington mortgages.

5 days for a redemption figure is standard in the industry, I have dealt with lots of mortgages, and 5 working days is fairly standard. They do get them out as quickly as they can, but it is all depending on how busy they are.

Your solicitor should have asked for a redemption figure for a certain date (ie completion date), the redemption figure would come with a daily interest rate to specify what money would have to be paid should completion take longer. If this runs up to your next payment and you still havn't completed, then you have to pay your mortgage or inform Kensington that you arn't. Otherwise how are they to know? Lots of people ask for a redemption figure but don't actually move house.

If your completion took you into January, then your solicitor should have asked for a new redemption figure, and worked out the daily rate from that to the day you completed.

Kensington admin is actually very good! I used to work there and would go back there in a shot as they are a fantastic company to work for.

Not saying you are wrong at all, just your solicitor may be blaming it all on Kensington when it might not be the case.. A lot fo redemption requests we got had no authority from the solicitors, but because it was 3-5 days before the fax was seen by the dept it meant that it was delayed, and so another 5 days turnaround was added on.. this is the only way the dept could realistically work.

So, maybe some of the blame lies with your solicitor.

dwsjarcmcd

I have some sympathy with G-G's view. Without excusing what went on 'post - completion' regarding the fee refunds, I cannot believe that your Solicitor only asked for a redemption statement 2 days before completion. Some of your problems can be traced back to this, particularly as a statement can be produced as the completion date well before it happens.

Kensington are not the only ones at fault.

dunstonh

It isnt clear cut that Kensington are much in the wrong.

1 - It was Christmas and everything slows down over that period with so many holidays and post being slow.

2 - The solicitor was unrealistic in his request and didnt give enough time.

3 - You must keep making payments until the mortgage is redeemed. You didnt so you were charged. Kensington are correct in doing that.

4 - If you dont give them your new address how are they meant to send things to it? Most people would have a royal mail redirect in place.

Even if they made errors, they are not at fault with some of the things you mention and as mentioned higher up, certain things created the cascade of things you are complaining about.

G-G_4

dunstonh wrote: »

It isnt clear cut that Kensington are much in the wrong.

1 - It was Christmas and everything slows down over that period with so many holidays and post being slow.

2 - The solicitor was unrealistic in his request and didnt give enough time.

3 - You must keep making payments until the mortgage is redeemed. You didnt so you were charged. Kensington are correct in doing that.

4 - If you dont give them your new address how are they meant to send things to it? Most people would have a royal mail redirect in place.

Even if they made errors, they are not at fault with some of the things you mention and as mentioned higher up, certain things created the cascade of things you are complaining about.

Good post :T